


Nothing but Net

by badel811



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Muggle, Basketball, Good Regulus Black, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Lawyers, M/M, Second Chances, Sirius Black Being an Asshole
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-22 08:40:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30036003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badel811/pseuds/badel811
Summary: Regulus Black is a lawyer, just trying to get through his life. He definitely does NOT want to think about his family, or his brother, or his brother's friend, pro basketball star James Potter. He doesn't want to think about the basketball career that was cruelly stolen from him before he could even start it. He doesn't wanna think about basketball at all, actually. He wasn't happy, but he was content, and that was what mattered.But a bizarre sequence of events will put Reggie on a collision course with all of those things. He stumbles ass backwards into the world of basketball again, confronts an angry and damaged brother, fends off a meddling James, and finds himself reckoning with a past he'd hoped he could forget.Through it all, he learns that sometimes you have to destroy contentedness in order to take a chance on being happy. He learns how to be angry and then how to let that anger go again. And he learns that he can have everything he wants, so long as he puts in some faith, trust, and a whole lot of gay fairy dust.
Relationships: Regulus Black/Bartemius Crouch Jr., Regulus Black/James Potter
Comments: 7
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter 1

"You know, Reggie, you'd be much better looking if you didn't have that surly expression on your face all the time."

Regulus closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and looked up from his computer.

"Are you seriously sexually harassing me in the middle of the office right now, Evans?"

"I'm not sexually harassing you! I'm just telling you the truth! It would help with your courtroom gravitas." 

Regulus scowled up at the face of his fellow associate, Lily Evans. "I don't have courtroom gravitas. I don't NEED courtroom gravitas, Lily, because I don't speak in the damn courtroom!"

"Come on, Reggie, you're not going to be an associate forever..."

"I will if you don't leave me alone to work in peace!"

"Jeez, what's up your ass today, Black?"

Regulus sighed and willed himself to calm down.

"I've got a meeting with Crouch in 15 minutes, and he didn't bother to tell me what it was about. So I'm over here freaking out because I can only assume he's about to fire me."

"What makes you say that?"

Regulus did his best Bartemius Crouch Sr impression: "Well Mr. Black, it's been fun employing the son of my most hated rival, the accursed Orion Black, stealer of clients and world's worst attorney, but the novelty's worn off, so you need to get the hell out of here."

Lily shook her head, smiling. "You are SUCH a pessimist, Regulus Black."

"If you grew up the way I did, you'd be a pessimist too."

His desk phone rang.

"Regulus Black speaking."

"Hello Mr. Black," the melodious voice of Mafalda Hopkirk, Crouch's secretary, filled his ear. "Mr. Crouch would like to know if it's possible for you to meet with him now instead of at 2, something's come up in his schedule."

"Yes of course, I'll be right up."

"Crouch isn't going to fire you, Reggie. Just relax! You're always so wound up all the time, it isn't healthy."

"Don't you have work to do, you know, somewhere else?" Regulus said irritably, standing up from his desk and straightening his suit jacket.

"Oh whatever. But be warned, I will get you to loosen up eventually! Just you wait and see! Crouch is up there right now waiting to give you a promotion, I bet!"

"Yeah, when Hell freezes over, maybe."

******

"Ah good, Mr. Black, come in," Barty Crouch, founding partner of Crouch & Bagnold, waved him into his palatial office. "Have a seat, please. Some water?"

"That'd be fine, sir," Regulus said, perching himself in one of the chairs across from Crouch's desk. He was trying to figure out what that meant. Crouch wouldn't be offering him a drink if he was about to fire him, was he? On the other hand, maybe he's offering it to him to soften him up before the heavy blow comes down.

"There we are," Crouch said, setting a glass of water down in front of him. "Now, straight to the point, Mr. Black: I need a favor."

"Of course sir, what is it?" Regulus said, trying to keep the confusion out of his voice. 

"You played basketball in high school, right?"

"I....uh, yes I did," Regulus didn't bother keeping a neutral voice now, because, what the fuck? Regulus NEVER talked about THAT, how the hell would he even know that?

"Good, good. So, here's the situation. It's Barty Junior's birthday on Saturday, he's coming home from school and we've got this whole thing planned, party and dinner at our house, so on. I also got him VERY expensive seats for the basketball game at the arena on Saturday night. But the thing is....I don't know anything about basketball. I'm afraid I wouldn't be very good company for him."

Regulus blinked, for lack of anything better to do. This was probably the most bizarre conversation he'd ever been a part of. And of course it all went back to Barty Crouch Junior. His father had such a weird relationship with him. It was like, you could tell he cared about his son, but he didn't know how to show it except by buying him things. Barty Junior was several years younger than Regulus, still a teenager and at college somewhere expensive out of town. 

"I'm....not sure what you're asking of me here, sir."

"To go with him, of course! You're pretty close in age to my son, and you know about basketball, so you can talk with him about it, make sure he has a good time and all of that."

Was....was this a date? Did his boss want him to go on a date with his son? Because if yes, then this wasn't just the weirdest conversation Regulus had ever had, it may be the weirdest conversation ANYONE has ever had. Not to mention, Regulus HATED basketball, for a number of reasons, and he couldn't think of a less appealing way to spend a Saturday night than to be at the arena downtown.

"Sir, I...I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that. Wouldn't it be better for one of his friends to go with him?"

"I already tried that," Crouch said dismissively. "All of his friends are too far away, too busy with school stuff to come here on Saturday. I understand this isn't exactly....conventional, but believe me when I tell you that if there were a more appropriate candidate to ask about this, I would have already done so."

Regulus wanted to say no. Crouch couldn't legally make him do this or retaliate against him if he didn't, they were both lawyers and they knew that full well. Too many things could go wrong. What if Regulus made an ass of himself in front of the boss' son? What if Little Barty, who Regulus didn't know that well, decided Regulus was boring? And why did it have to be a fucking basketball game? 

Crouch sighed. "Listen, Regulus," he started, and Regulus looked up at him in surprise because that was the first time his boss had ever called him by his first name. "It's no secret that one of the primary reasons you were hired here in the first place was as a means to spite your father. But you've surprised me over the course of the last three years, you do your work well, and professionally, you don't cause trouble in the office, and you haven't turned out to be a spy for Orion like I half expected you to be."

Regulus had to choke back a scoff on that one.

"What I'm saying is, if you were willing to demonstrate your willingness to be a team player here, I see no reason why you shouldn't be given an immediate elevation to senior associate, with everything that entails."

Regulus' breath hitched. Senior associates made more money, had better offices, and could actually be expected to argue cases in the courtroom as lead council for clients. Even though Regulus was half expecting Crouch's offer to be bullshit, he knew that he had to at least try, just in case it wasn't. After all, it was only one night, one stupid basketball game.

"Alright, I'll do it," Regulus said, trying not to sound resigned.

"Excellent, I knew I could count on you, Regulus. Mafalda will email you with the details. Thank you for your assistance with this. Now, I don't mean to rush you out, but I'm expecting a phone call here any minute, so...."

And just like that, Regulus was ushered out of the office. Shell shocked about what had just happened, what he'd found himself agreeing to, he wandered back to his desk and plopped down in the chair. Not that there was any point, he knew full well he wasn't going to be able to get any more work done the rest of the day. Vaguely, he registered that he should probably look up who was playing on Saturday so he could sound informed and not like a complete idiot. 

One look at the screen snapped him back to full alertness. Of course. Of fucking COURSE, out of all the teams out there, it had to be his. It had to be goddamn James Potter, beloved basketball star and one of the reasons Regulus hated the sport so much. 

"Oh my God, why is my life like this?" Regulus groaned out loud, resisting the urge to beat his head against his keyboard until he bludgeoned himself into unconsciousness. The desk phone rang again and he answered it.

"So, how did it go? You're not cleaning out your desk, so I assume you weren't fired," Lily said cheerfully into his phone.

Regulus sighed. "Well Lily, Hell may not have frozen over, but it's pretty chilly down there right now."


	2. Chapter 2

Regulus was stressed out when he came home. In the old days, he would have drank himself stupid to cope with it. But he had been sober for three years now, and he wasn't going to break that streak because of some weird shit from work.

Instead, he turned to his OTHER coping mechanism: video games. Today was stressful, so it called for a relaxing puzzle game. He tried to lose himself in the game, avoiding turning his thoughts into a runaway train of self loathing and confusion. 

From the outside, his might seem a depressing existence. He was alone, with no family and few friends left to him, spending most of his free time home alone, playing video games, or working out on his treadmill. But Regulus wasn't depressed about the way he lived. He was...well, not HAPPY, he didn't think he'd ever actually been happy in his life, but he was content. Things were alright. 

And that's what he kept telling himself all night, as he played the game. That this weird date thing wasn't going to change anything, because things were alright, maybe they might even get a little better if Barty Crouch Junior wasn't an asshole and if his father was serious about giving him a promotion. And it was just one game, anyway. Stupid James Potter wouldn't see him, he'd be just one face in the crowd. And then he could go back to pretending the other man, and all the memories that came with him, didn't exist.

His gaming meditation session must have worked, because he didn't freak out all night, and actually got a good night's sleep with no nightmares for a change.

******

Regulus sighed and tried to control his breathing, checking over his clothes and trying not to overthink things, failing miserably at it.

"Is this what normal people wear to basketball games? Is it too dressy, what if it's too casual and he comes out here in a sport jacket and loafers? And we still haven't resolved the question of whether this was a friggin' date or not. Nobody's seen me yet, maybe I could get out of here, and just tell Crouch I was sick, and then...."

There was a tapping on his window, and Regulus looked up to see Barty Crouch Junior smiling and waving at him. Completely disregarding his seconds old freakout, Regulus rolled down the window and presented him with his best charming lawyer face.

"Hey Barty, you ready to go?"

"Yep! Do you want to drive or should we take my car?"

"I'm good to drive, hop in!"

Barty went around the front of Regulus' car and got into the passenger seat. Up at the house, Regulus spotted Barty Senior, who gave him a serene looking wave that Regulus did his best to respond to before starting down the driveway.

"This is a nice car," Barty commented, eyeing the interior of Regulus' Cadillac appreciatively.

"Thanks! It's one of the first things I bought myself, I decided I deserved something nice, you know," Regulus said with a chuckle.

Barty smiled at him, then sighed.

"Yeah. Hey, listen, Reggie," he started. "I know that my dad is basically forcing you to take me out tonight, so I just wanted to say that if you didn't want to go to the game, I don't mind. We can do whatever."

"Oh, no, that's okay!" Regulus said. "I mean, do you want to go to the game?"

"....Yeah, I'd like to," Barty said quietly.

"Well, sir, it IS your birthday, so we should do what you wanna do."

"I know, and I'm glad we're going!" Barty said. "It's just, I thought I'd offer because this isn't the first time my dad has done this."

"....Done what?"

"Set me up with a younger, gay attorney that he knows from somewhere."

"Oh," Regulus said, trying to ignore the triumphant, yet terrified voice in the back of his head saying "I KNEW it!"

"My dad took the news of my coming out way better than I expected. Now he's determined to marry me off to a lawyer."

"How many times has he done this?" Regulus asked curiously.

"You're the fourth."

Regulus' eyes widened. "There aren't that many gay lawyers at the firm!"

"I know, you're the first one that actually works for him. I don't know where he found the rest of them, I'm half convinced he's set up an online dating profile using my picture to set these up."

Well okay then, Regulus was now in the Twilight Zone, it was the only logical explanation for this sequence of events.

"If this is awkward for you, Barty, I could just drop you off at the arena if you don't want to go with me, I can pick you up after its over."

"No no, don't misunderstand me!" Barty said, laughing, "If I didn't want to do this, I wouldn't have gotten in your car. I just didn't want to make you uncomfortable. I mean, we've already gotten the tickets, and you ARE kinda cute, even though I don't think you're my type, Reggie."

"Rude! What makes you say that?"

"Don't take this as an insult, Reggie, but everything about you practically SCREAMS 'bottom energy'. And since I am also a bottom, that isn't really gonna work, is it?"

Regulus blinked. "Okay, that's fair. I have topped before, I suppose I wasn't very good at it since he didn't call me again, but whatever."

Barty chuckled.

"Okay then, birthday boy, what IS your type?"

"James Potter!" the younger man said without hesitation. "He's so dreamy."

Regulus' smile receded a fraction of an inch, but he nodded. "Tall guys do it for you then?"

"It's more than that! The way his hair is so long it gets into his eyes, and his muscles, and the way he's so NICE to everyone all the time...."

Oh, this was a trial. This was a test set by God himself to see if Regulus Black would snap and retort "Oh yeah, well when I knew James Potter, he was a giant dickhead who wasn't nice to anyone!"

But of course Regulus didn't do that, because Regulus IS a nice guy, not to mention he was totally well adjusted and didn't carry any grudges from his high school days on into today, that would be ludicrous. Instead Regulus just gave Barty a weak smile and said "Careful not to get your fanboy juices all over my nice car, Barty."

Barty flipped him off and said "Hey! It's my birthday! You're supposed to be nice to me!"

"Yeah yeah, I'll buy you a T-shirt. Here's where we have to park."

Regulus was having a better time than he expected to, Barty was really funny. He found himself relaxing as his fears about the night were being laid to rest. Maybe tonight wouldn't be so bad after all, assuming nothing else weird happened. If only he knew.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been a long time since Regulus had been to a sporting event, so he was a little flabbergasted by how....noisy everything was. The arena was packed, there must have been 20,000 people there. The music, the crowd, the PA announcer, all the noise just reverberated around the building and made everything ten times as loud as it would have been outside. 

They had good seats, in the lower stand, about ten rows up from the court itself. That tracked with what Crouch had told Regulus about the tickets being expensive. 

"How many points do you think Potter is going to put up on these poor bastards?" Barty asked when they sat down. 

"What, no home team spirit?" Regulus said, jokingly, to avoid having to answer a single goddamn question about James fucking Potter.

"Hell no! I rooted for New York event before they drafted Potter, but now? Superfan."

"More like thirsty fanboy," Regulus said under his breath.

"Hey!"

Barty punched him in the shoulder, then suddenly pointed.

"Look, there he is!"

Regulus looked, and there he was. In a way, he looked the same as he did in high school: still that casual elegance about him that made everything he did look effortless, still that impractical haircut that was too long to keep the hair out of his eyes and not long enough to tie back. But there were changes too. Potter had definitely bulked out some since school, and most interestingly, he didn't wear glasses anymore. On the St. Mary's team, he'd worn ridiculous "sports goggles" that were secured to his head with a rubber band. Either he finally got contact lenses, or he paid to have his eyes fixed with a laser.

_"Stay away from James, you hear me? And stay away from me too! You're not my brother anymore!"_

"Reggie?" 

Regulus blinked and escaped from his own head. "I'm sorry Barty, I didn't hear you."

"I asked if you wanted a soda."

"Oh, yeah, get me whatever you're getting, I'm not particular."

As Barty got up to go to the concession stand, Regulus glanced back at James Potter. He'd gotten over all of this years ago. He was going to be fine. It wasn't like Potter was going to know that he was here, after all.

******

The game was rough. Potter was the centerpiece of New York's offense, and the home team went after him, but he was was like a whirling dervish on the floor, skillfully avoiding defenders and banking in shot after shot. He was also fouled six times in the first half, but that didn't help the other team either, as Potter was a marksman from the free throw line, missing only one attempt. Regulus remembered THAT as being part of his skillset since high school. St. Mary's players were rigorously schooled in fundamentals, Regulus used to be a fair hand at free throws as well. Idly he wondered if he'd be any good at it now, considering he hadn't played in what, like ten years now?

When the buzzer signaled the end of the first half, New York had a big lead and Potter had put up 24 points. Barty seemed to be enjoying himself, if the way he cheered and grabbed onto Regulus with every shot Potter made was any indication. 

"Man, New York is crushing them!" Barty said as the players walked to the sideline. 

"Well, they are the best in their division, and our team sucks," Regulus said. He only knew this because he'd done some research online before coming here. And if in the process he'd gotten himself irritated at Potter's lifetime statistics, which were putting him on a Hall of Fame career trajectory, well that was nobody's business but his.

_"It's just like I told you, Regulus. Sirius doesn't love you. He will never love you. The only person that will EVER love you is me."_

A spotlight suddenly shined on him, and Regulus looked around in confusion. Barty was laughing at him and pushing his arm.

"Dude that's you! Get up and go down there!"

Other people around him were encouraging him to do the same. Oh shit, did he just get picked to do one of those ridiculous fan contests to win some dumb prize? Oh man, he didn't want to do that! He didn't want to get any closer to Potter than necessary.

"You go," he said to Barty, "It's your birthday..."

But Barty was shaking his head and pointed to an usher who was already down at the end of the row waiting for him. Regulus swore under his breath and got up. As he made his way down the steps to the arena, people kept slapping him on the back like he'd done something worthy of praise, instead of being randomly selected to do....he had no idea, he hadn't been paying attention when they announced the contest.

"Alright buddy!" the MC, a guy about his age who looked WAY too satisfied with his job said as Regulus approached. "What's your name?"

Well, he wasn't gonna be Regulus, that's for sure. He figured when he replied "Reggie," that it was a common enough name that Potter wouldn't recognize him. Didn't work. As soon as he said it, the point guard's eyes suddenly snapped up from his team huddle and they made eye contact. Potter's eyes narrowed. Shit.

"Alright Reggie, now as you may know, nobody has made our half court shot challenge all season long, which means our prize pool is up to $250,000! You excited to try and win that money?"

Oh, it was a half court shot challenge, at least that was easy enough to understand. They gave a random fan a basketball and gave them one shot at putting a ball in the basket from half court, for a chance at...did he say a QUARTER MILLION DOLLARS? Sweet Christmas!

Regulus could only nod, because what the fuck was he even supposed to say? The MC handed him a basketball and said "Alright Reggie, anytime you're ready!"

Regulus wanted to just airmail the ball. This was like something out of his nightmares, an entire arena of people were going to watch him try some goofy ass shot that the pros only did in desperation at the end of a game. But he looked over and James Potter was still staring at him, a smirk on his face as though he knew exactly who "Reggie" was. And Regulus got mad. There was no way he wasn't going to at least perform the shot correctly, he wasn't some beer belly amateur and he wanted to make sure Potter knew it. 

Regulus dribbled the ball a couple times, passing it from hand to hand, amazed at how natural it felt even after all this time. He took a few steps back from the half court line, so he could make a running start. He bounced the ball a couple more times, envisioning what his coach had told them about making long range shots. Then he ran forward, and just as he reached the half court line, jumped as high as he could into the air, firing the ball at the apex of his jump. He thanked God he'd worn sneakers to the arena. He landed on his feet and watched the ball, which at least looked like it was heading in the right direction, that was more than he expected.

Time seemed to slow down, the crowd noise died away, and Regulus watched the ball, thinking "What kind of Hoosiers ass movie bullshit is this?" He watched the ball get closer, closer, and closer. And then, to the disbelief of Regulus and probably everyone else in the place, he watched the basketball sail right through the hoop, sliding through the net with a swish. Nothing but net, as the saying went.

The arena went crazy, the crowd standing as one and cheering and applauding. Regulus, unable to do anything else, merely raising his arms up into the air in triumph as he found himself mobbed by people. It was the home basketball team, a group of much people much taller and much better paid than he was, and they were....lifting him up onto their shoulders. What a bizarre feeling. Regulus still had his arms in the air, smiling in spite of himself. Somehow, in the melee, he caught sight of James Potter, still smirking at him. He was clapping at him, and Regulus forced himself to look away because this was just weird now.

The players put him down and went back to their sideline after hugging him, slapping his back, or high fiving him. The MC was still talking, but Regulus had no idea what he was saying. Someone, an usher he guessed, gripped his shoulder and steered him off the court, not back towards his seat, but to the tunnel where the locker rooms were. He was taken underneath the stands, to an office, where a man in a suit shook his hand and congratulated him for his "big win."

It was only when he was filing out the prize and tax forms that it occurred to him that he just won $250,000. He'd been so wrapped up in the sheer incredulity of making the shot, and the crowd cheering him, that the money totally slipped his mind. Jesus, what even just happened.

The public relations man for the team, the man in the suit, explained that he would call Regulus to set up a time for him to come back to the arena to actually get his money. Apparently there was a whole photo op thing they wanted to do, good publicity and all that. Regulus didn't mind.

"You do get to pick one of the signed basketballs to take home tonight, though," the guy said. Reviewing the available choices, he sighed and grabbed the one signed by James fucking Potter. Why did they even have this? He didn't play for their team. 

They took him back up to the concourse in an elevator, by which time Regulus' heart rate had ALMOST gone back to normal. Nobody paid him much attention until he started down the steps toward his seat. When he got close, people who recognized him started congratulating him, which started a whole other thing. When he got back to his seat, Barty had an absolute shit eating grin on his face.

"You lucky bastard," he said, as Regulus sat down.

"And I pass my luck onto you," Regulus said, "Here." He handed him the basketball.

"What...is this...where did you get this?"

"They gave it to me. It's yours. Happy birthday, Barty."

"I can't accept this!"

"With all the money they're going to give me, I can buy a thousand of those, dude. Just take it."

"You're unbelievable! I've never seen anybody make a shot like that before! What are you gonna do with the money?"

"Pay off my car, I guess, and I don't know what else. I don't spend a lot."

Someone tapped him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me sir? One of the players asked me to give you this."

The usher handed him a basketball. He couldn't be sure, but it looked like the same one he'd made the shot with. Written on it was a phone number and the words "Let's catch up!" and underneath that, the same goddamn signature as the ball he'd given Barty. The nerve of that sonofabitch.

"Who's that from?" Barty asked. Regulus quickly hid the signature from sight. "Oh, just one of the home team players. It's the ball I used."

Barty shook his head. "I filmed the whole thing on my phone, you know. I can't wait to show Dad when we get back!"

For someone who just turned 20 years old, Barty sure sounded like he was 12. 

The rest of the game passed in a blur, Regulus a mixture of emotions. He was still reveling in the afterglow of what had happened at halftime, but he also kept staring at the tote bag that damn basketball was in. Why the hell did James Potter want to talk to him? And why the hell should Regulus call the bastard? Ugh, what a mess.

******

"I had a really good time tonight, Reggie," Barty said when the car pulled into the Crouch driveway. "Thank you for this, it was a great birthday."

"You're welcome, Barty, I had fun too," Regulus said, smiling back.

Barty seemed to hesitate for a second, then he suddenly blurted out "Can we make out for a bit?"

Regulus raised an eyebrow. "I thought I wasn't your type."

"Not the type to date me, no. But I wanna be friends, Reggie. And sometimes, you know, I like to fool around with my friends, you know, if they're into it."

That was such a....gay boy thing to say, and Regulus almost laughed.

"Well, I suppose you DO deserve a birthday kiss," Regulus said, smirking, "but that's it tonight, man. If your dad comes out here...."

Barty shuddered at the implication. "Yeah, you're right about THAT. But we can though? Make out?"

Regulus nodded. 

"That's the spirit," Barty said, and surged forward, kissing Regulus hard. He found himself pushed back against the car door, the back of his head hitting the window with a thunk. Regulus opened his mouth in surprise and Barty stuck his tongue in, and Regulus moaned because of how GOOD it felt. He tried to remember the last time he'd done this. The fact that it didn't immediately come to mind was a bad sign.

Regulus wrapped his arms around Barty's neck and gave as good as he got. When they finally broke apart both of them were panting, and Regulus could see the bulge in Barty's pants, and felt a similar one in his own.

"Like I said Reggie, you're cute," Barty said, flashing him a grin. 

"You're not so bad yourself," Regulus replied.

"We should hang out again sometime."

"As friends? Or are you going to tell Daddy we're dating?"

"Not funny, Reggie!" But he was laughing anyway. 

Barty leaned forward and pecked Regulus on the lips again. "I should go inside. I'll friend you on Facebook and we'll talk there, okay?"

Regulus nodded.

"Great! Good night!" Barty got out of the car and practically bounced up the drive to his parents' house. Regulus ran a hand through his hair, now thoroughly mussed from where Barty had been playing with it, and then started the car to get out of there. 

What a day, he kept saying to himself as he drove back to his apartment, what a day. 


	4. Chapter 4

Persistently annoying music roused Regulus from sleep on Sunday morning. As he regained consciousness, he recognized the strains of the "William Tell Overture" and realized that Lily must have fucking changed his ringtone again.

"Hello?" he said, rubbing his eyes.

"You didn't call me last night," a voice responded. 

"I'm sorry, what?"

"You didn't call me last night. I left you my number, on the basketball, didn't you get it?"

It took Regulus a second to put it together, but then he bolted upright in bed like someone had doused him in ice water.

"James Potter?" he said, disbelievingly.

"That's me!" he responded, and yep, Regulus knew that goddamn voice, alright. A swirl of emotions flooded him all at once, the two most overpowering being confusion and annoyance.

"How the hell did you get my phone number?" he asked.

"Oh come on, Reggie. You wrote your number down on the prize form last night, remember? So the PR dude could call you to get your money?"

"And the guy just GAVE my number to YOU?" Regulus said, starting to transition from annoyed to angry now.

"He's a big fan," was all that James replied with.

"You....I....son of a...." Regulus was reduced to sputtering out sentence fragments now.

"Hey, hey, calm down Reggie. Nice nickname by the way, how come you didn't go by it when we went to school together?"

Regulus wanted to reply that James damn well knew why, but he didn't. Talking about the past was not on his agenda for this morning. Or any morning, really.

"What the hell do you want, James Potter?" Regulus said flatly, not able to muster the effort to be venomous right now.

"What, can't an old friend call you up to wish you congrats on your big win last night, and to catch up?"

"First of all, it's been ten years since we've spoken, second of all, you probably broke some kind of privacy law to get my phone number in the first place, and third of all, we're not friends. We never WERE friends."

"Ouch, well that hurts my feelings, Reggie."

"That hurts YOUR....you arrogant asshole James Potter!"

And he was about to continue to rant at him, when James cut him off. "I want to see you, Reggie. Talk to you in person."

Regulus had to physically bite his tongue to get himself to calm down.

"I can't think of anything I would like less right now, James."

"Oh. Well it's probably a bad time to mention that I got your address too, I guess."

Regulus' eyes widened in horror.

"Don't you DARE come over here!"

"Yeah...ummm....too late. I'm standing outside your door."

This was punctuated by a knock at his front door.

Regulus tossed his phone across the bedroom, not trusting himself to not lose it completely. He wrenched himself out of bed and yanked on a bathrobe. He grumbled all the way to the door.

"Unbelievable....stupid Potter, big basketball star now he thinks he can do whatever the FUCK he wants....in MY home....unbelievable."

He unlocked the door and pulled it open, and there was James Potter standing on his doormat. He was dressed in a very expensive looking polo shirt and khakis, which he paired off with designer sneakers, because of course he did. The bastard had the nerve to smirk at him just like he did last night.

"Give me ONE good reason why I shouldn't punch you in the goddamn face," Regulus said, pointing a finger at him.

"It would hurt your hand?" James said. This was one of the things that had always infuriated Regulus about James, he ALWAYS had a comeback ready for anything anybody threw at him.

"Get the fuck in here before my neighbors see you," he said, holding the door open wider to let him in.

"Why would that be a problem?"

"Oh yeah, one of the world's most famous athletes standing in the hallway of my apartment building, that won't cause a commotion, will it?"

"Oh, right. Sometimes I forget about all that, you know."

"Unbelievable," Regulus said as James walked into his apartment, closing the door behind him.

"Nice place you got here," James said, standing in his living room, looking around.

"Sorry it isn't a condo on Park Avenue, us mortals have to get by with more pedestrian accommodations."

"That isn't what I meant, Regulus," James said. "Why all this hostility, man?"

Regulus' mouth fell open. "Are you kidding me? You seriously can't think of ANYTHING about our shared past that would make me hostile towards you?"

"That was high school, we're all stupid in high school!" James argued. "I would have thought you would have gotten over it by now!"

"I DID get over it!" Regulus said, raising his voice. "But you're not supposed to come here, you don't get to just come and talk to me like nothing happened, like he didn't say what he said!"

"Who said what? You mean Sirius?"

"He's still your agent, right? Still your best friend?"

James nodded.

"Then what, did you forget? About how two weeks after he ran away to live with you, he cornered me in the hallway at school, and told me to stay away from the both of you? That I wasn't his brother anymore?"

James' eyes widened, he started shaking his head and stammering. Regulus' faced morphed into a sardonic little smile. 

"Oh, I see. He didn't tell you, did he? I suppose it never occurred to you to wonder why I suddenly stopped talking to you at practice, avoiding you the rest of the time, huh?"

"He...he told me you were angry with me because I took him away from you."

"Yes, well, Sirius can be VERY manipulative when he wants something, can't he? He had a very good teacher growing up, after all."

James didn't reply, instead he walked over to a picture hung on the wall. It was the St. Mary's basketball team, when James was a senior and Regulus was a junior. It was Regulus' one indulgence, his one reminder of the past, when things were still somewhat good.

"Why did you stop playing basketball?" James blurted out suddenly. "You were just as good as I was back then. We...I thought you could have played in college, you could have been a pro."

"Yes, well," Regulus turned away from James, unable to bear the thought of a pitying look on his face.

"First game of senior year, five minutes in, guy fouls me hard and I land wrong. My shoulder separated, I had to have surgery, it took me a while to recover. I didn't play again. Not a single college offered me a scholarship, James. Not one. I could have played in college, yes, but nobody wanted me to. My father, being the person that he is, said this was proof positive that basketball was a waste of my time, and that I needed to go to law school, that was the only way he'd support me. And it was either that or live on the street, wasn't it? Since unlike Sirius, I didn't have a rich friend with a bright future to run off to, did I?"

"You could have...."

"NO! I couldn't have, weren't you listening? Sirius left me there alone! And he made sure I couldn't follow him, couldn't fuck up his perfect new life. What he didn't know is that he had played right into my father's hands. He WANTED Sirius to leave, he WANTED him to hate me, he'd engineered it that way ever since he realized that he couldn't control Sirius. He made sure that Sirius left, and he wouldn't come back for me, so he'd have total control over me like he'd always had."

James didn't reply, so Regulus moved closer to him, lowering his voice to just above a whisper.

"You wanna know how I finally got away, James? After I drank my way through law school, the day I passed the bar exam, I went to the family home for dinner, and I told him that I'd gotten a job with his most hated rival, that I was working for Barty Crouch now. I was out of school, I didn't need his money anymore, and I decided THIS would be the perfect way to break free once and for all. And you know what he did, James?"

Regulus jerked down the collar of his shirt to expose an ugly, jagged scar that ran down his neck and ended at his collarbone.

"He cut me open with a broken wine bottle. I almost died, I was in the hospital for two weeks. But he never tried to contact me again, so really it's a net positive."

"Didn't you press charges?" James asked.

Regulus laughed, an ugly bitter noise that he hated. "Come on, James. My father is one of the most influential men in the city, he has dirt on practically everyone, you really think it would have accomplished anything to press charges?"

James looked stunned, like Regulus had hit him in the head with a brick. 

"Regulus, I....I'm sorry."

"It's a bit late for apologies now, James. Besides, as you so eloquently put it, I got over it."

James still didn't say anything. 

"Well, not that this hasn't been fun, but I think it's time for you to leave, James. I'm sure you've got a busy schedule, being a famous star and all that, and my day is packed full too, so maybe you can stalk me again in another ten years and we'll do this again, shall we?"

He held the door open for him. James walked through it but lingered in the hallway.

"I don't want it to be ten years before I see you again, Reggie," he said sadly.

"Well if you want anymore revelations about the past, you're going to have to find a different narrator, James. I've given you my last performance."

And he slammed the door in James' face. After locking it and checking through the peephole to make sure James had actually gone, Regulus walked back to the living room, slightly dazed, and flopped onto the couch. He turned on his video game console, and realized that today was not a relaxing puzzle game kind of day. He spent the remainder of his Sunday shooting, dismembering, and blowing up Nazis, not bothering to get out of his bathrobe or to eat anything, and he got super into the game, snarling at it out loud. That way, he could pretend the tears that were falling were ones of frustration.


	5. Chapter 5

James Potter had been out of sorts ever since he'd left Regulus' apartment. His teammates noticed on the flight back to New York, and one of them, Frank Longbottom, actually asked him about it.

"Just a personal thing man, nothing to worry about."

That seemed to satisfy Longbottom, but it did nothing for James. James was pretty comfortable with his life, but what was more important here was that he had, until now, thought he'd understood his life, and what was going on around him. 

It came back to Sirius Black. His best friend, his closest confidante, his brother in everything but name. Long ago, they'd sworn to NEVER lie to each other, about anything, no matter what. In all the years since, James had never lied to Sirius, and he'd been under the impression that Sirius had done the same. But now, he was faced with absolute proof that Sirius had lied to him, had been lying to him for YEARS. 

James knew instinctively that everything Regulus told him was the truth. He'd seen the same look in Sirius' eyes when he'd first run away from home, it was a look that said more than words ever could. 

Fortunately, they had another off day before their next game, and James knew just how he intended to spend it. He drove straight from the airport to Sirius' apartment, a more ostentatious space than James', in a skyscraper overlooking the East River.

During the long elevator ride up, James got angrier and angrier. HIS money had paid for all of Sirius' ridiculous lifestyle, since Sirius had been his agent and got a percentage of all the money he made as a result. And Sirius had the nerve to do this?

James tried to calm himself down as he walked down the hallway to Sirius' apartment, so he wouldn't do something foolish and hurt himself, which wouldn't be a good look only a few games before the start of the playoffs. So he knocked on the door politely instead of pounding on it like he wanted to. A minute later, Sirius answered the door, dressed in a bathrobe despite it being 4:30 in the afternoon.

"Jamie!" Sirius said brightly. "You didn't call! You can come in, but..."

"If you have someone in there, get them to leave, I need to talk to you," James cut him off.

"Oh, uh...sure! Let me just....yeah, come in!"

James stepped into Sirius' apartment, thinking not for the first time that it was an interior decorator's worst nightmare. None of the furniture matched, the walls were covered in an eclectic mix of artwork and sports memorabilia, and the fur carpet on the floor in the living room? Goddamn hideous.

James waited, standing in the middle of the living room, until an attractive young woman stumbled out into the living room, trying to walk and put her high heeled shoes on at the same time. She stopped dead when she saw James.

"Oh my God," she said quietly. "You weren't lying when you said you knew James Potter!"

"Why does everyone I bring home always say that?" Sirius said with a smile, following her.

"Sorry to interrupt," James said, addressing the woman.

"Oh, no problem! I was getting ready to leave anyway, I have to get back before my husband gets...."

She reddened as she realized what she said, and with a quick "Anyway, nice to meet you! Bye!"

And she practically ran out the door, still holding one shoe. In any other circumstance, James probably would have found the situation comical. But today, it only made things worse. As soon as the door shut, Sirius turned to James, attempting to sound nonchalant about the whole thing.

"So, what's going on, brother?"

"Funny you should call me that," James replied, "Because I ran into yours while I was on the road."

Sirius went from smiling to confused. "I'm sorry, what?"

"You remember Regulus, don't you? The brother you pretend doesn't exist?"

"Wait a minute, did you say you SAW him?"

"Mmhmm. Talked to him too. It's actually kind of a funny story, under other circumstances I'dve been happy to tell it to you."

Sirius' eyes narrowed. "You did that without talking to me? Why would..."

But James cut him off again. "Do you remember back when we were 16, and you first ran away to live with me?"

"Yes, of course I do."

"Specifically, me asking you repeatedly if you thought Regulus was being hurt by your dad like you were, if we should get him out of there. And what did you tell me?"

"That he WASN'T being hurt, James! And that I asked him, but he didn't want to leave! He was Dad's favorite, he wanted to be the next great Black attorney."

"Liar!" James said, unable to hold in his temper anymore. "You've been lying to me this whole time about him, haven't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You've never reached out to him, not once, despite you telling me you had and he rejected you. YOU were the one that told him to stay away from you, and me, not the other way around!"

"I suppose HE told you all of that?" Sirius said angrily. "James, HE is the one that's lying to you!"

"I saw it in his eyes, Sirius!" James yelled. "You know how I know he wasn't lying? Because when he told me, he looked just like you did, when you first ran away from home, he had the SAME goddamn hurt and betrayed expression on his face, Sirius!"

"What is this about, James? Don't tell me you still have that stupid teenage crush on him!"

"That has nothing to do with anything! You should have seen his apartment. He lives a completely solitary existence, which makes sense because when I looked him up on Facebook, he has few friends and fewer posts, about anything. When he finally broke away from your father, he tried to kill him!"

That took Sirius by surprise, James could tell.

"And no, he didn't make that up either. I saw the scar on his neck. Plus I asked Alice, you know, Frank's girlfriend in the hospital? She confirmed it for me without telling me any details."

"So what?" Sirius snapped. "So Reggie finally got a taste of what my father had been dishing out to me for years, good for him! Doesn't change the fact that he was still the spoiled little prince of the family!"

"I don't get this. I don't get YOU, Sirius. You don't treat a brother like this, this is the same brother that followed after us like a little puppy. Why do you hate him so much?"

"Because you were MY friend!" Sirius exploded. "Regulus needed to get his own!"

It was like a knife right to the chest. 

"You never were good at sharing your toys, were you, Sirius?" James said quietly, and Sirius' eyes widened as he realized he'd gone too far.

"Jamie, that's not what I...." 

"You were right about one thing though, you WERE my friend, brother. You're fired."

Before he could see the look on Sirius' face, James turned away and headed for the door.

"James, wait! James!"

But James was gone. He put his face in his hands on the elevator ride down. He felt like a big part of his life had been a lie, and he didn't know how to fix it.

******

Regulus was trying to forget the entire episode with James Potter had even happened. His life had already changed enough without dealing with that too. Two days after the unscheduled visit, he took off from work to go down to the arena and claim his $250,000 prize. He'd had to smile and pose for pictures with an oversized check and shake hands with the sponsor who'd put up the money and the owner of the team. It was awful. But, Regulus supposed people had done far more degrading things for less money, so he should be grateful, even if Barty did INSIST on posting all the pictures and videos on Facebook. 

That was another thing that had changed. Far from being put off by the circumstances of their first outing together, Barty seemed insistent on being Regulus' "best friend" (his words) because he didn't really have one and he correctly figured out Regulus didn't have one either. It was weird, but also kind of adorable at the same time. They texted with each other with increasing regularity, and when Barty came home from school on the weekends, one evening was reserved for doing something together. Barty absolutely refused to call what they were doing "dating", even though it kinda felt that way to Regulus, especially when one evening after coming back from a night out Barty asked if he could suck Regulus off. And oh man, Regulus had forgotten how good THAT could feel. 

Barty Senior certainly seemed to think the two were dating. He was bizarrely happy around the office, asked Regulus out to lunch once a week, which Regulus quickly figured out was Barty Senior's way of trying to learn more about his son and his son's....sex friend? Regulus wasn't sure what the 21st century term for it was, and honestly didn't care. Regulus had also been promoted to Senior Associate, surprisingly apparently nobody but him. Lily even joked with him about "sleeping his way to the top," which Regulus thought wasn't even fair because he hadn't SLEPT with anybody, and it also implied that he had something going on with Boss Crouch, which, eww.

Things were going really good for Regulus, for a change. He was sitting on a small fortune, his new promotion came with a raise and a new caseload that delegated more responsibility to him, he really enjoyed Barty Junior's company, and the people at the office had finally stopped teasing him about the half court shot thing.

But something James had said had really stuck with Regulus. 

_"You were just as good as I was back then. We...I thought you could have played in college, you could have been a pro."_

Objectively, Regulus knew that. He had played on the same team as James Potter for three years, he'd watched his brother's best friend become a star, but he'd also known from countless hours of practice and one on ones that he could play just as well as Potter could. Senior year was supposed to be HIS year. Potter was gone to college and the team was Regulus'. The college and pro scouts would see him and not Potter now. But then came the injury, and the long recovery, and just like that, it was all gone. He'd had to grow up, it wasn't fair, but what in life was? 

The part that bothered him was that in his anger and frustration, he'd turned completely away from the sport he'd been obsessed with for his entire childhood. And he realized, after going to the game with Barty, that he still really liked basketball. So, one Sunday while doing his weekly shopping, he walked past the sporting goods section and made an impulsive decision to buy a new basketball. The next day, after work, he found himself at a public park, ball in hand, staring at the hoop. He dribbled the ball a few times, enjoying the sound it made when it thwacked onto the concrete, then banked in a shot from the free throw line that neatly hit off the backboard and through the net. 

Soon he found himself going through an old drill, shooting layups, free throws, and three pointers. The three point shot had been his specialty, he was smaller than most of the kids they played against, so he couldn't muscle into the paint the way the taller players did. Instead, he was like a sharpshooter, positioned outside the melee under the rim, ready to make a long range shot or pass the ball to an open teammate as the situation dictated. He fed Potter a LOT of his shots at St. Mary's that way. 

To his amazement, he wasn't rusty at all. He made the majority of his shots, he didn't get winded running around, and his mechanics were just as he remembered them. 

"Wow, you're really good."

Regulus was startled out of his trance by the voice, which he saw came from one of a group of college aged kids who'd just arrived on the scene.

"Thanks," Regulus said shyly. 

"Do you wanna play with us?" the guy asked him.

Now, it was one thing to do this by yourself, but to play against other people? That opened you up to ridicule, and Regulus didn't think he could handle that if he ever wanted to pick up a basketball again. Then he saw James Potter's smug face smirking at him from across the court back at the arena, and Regulus found himself shrugging and saying "Why not?"

******


	6. Chapter 6

James wasn't doing well. It had been three months since he'd seen Regulus and confronted Sirius, and he was missing his best friend more than he could say. He hadn't let it take away from his play on the court, and he supposed he was happy that his team had won the championship and that he'd been named Most Valuable Player for the 2nd year in a row. But now that it was the offseason, he didn't have anything to distract him from these troublesome thoughts. 

He'd heard from mutual friends that Sirius had doubled down on his outlandish behavior, drinking to excess, occasionally snorting cocaine, and going home with a different girl each time. It broke James' heart but at the same time he felt he couldn't do anything about it. This was how Sirius had been for years, and James suspected that it was a coping mechanism. More than once he'd suggested that Sirius should go to therapy to work through the shitty home life he'd grown up with, but each time Sirius had blown him off. "Nothing's wrong with me, I'm fine, I don't need help."

That wasn't true, and James knew it. He ached to forgive his friend, to talk to him again, to try and help him reduce the amount of reckless behavior he was engaging in, but every time he thought about it, he saw Regulus' face, those goddamn eyes that spoke of utter betrayal, and he refused. 

If Sirius would only apologize, make an effort to reach out to his brother....but that wasn't how Sirius operated. Sirius NEVER apologized, never admitted he was wrong about anything, he always dug in his heels, probably because admitting he was wrong was admitting that something might be wrong with him. 

Then there was Regulus. James felt immensely guilty about what had happened to him, feeling like if he'd asked more questions, been more forceful with Sirius, he could have gotten Regulus out too. James remembered the boy that used to trail around behind Sirius and him on their adventures, who had been a great player, complementing James perfectly on their team. He remembered seeing those sad eyes even back then, and wondering what was going on in his head, trying to make him laugh just to see his eyes change, even for a moment.

James had hired a private investigator, some creep named Mundungus Fletcher, to find out whatever he could about Regulus. James wanted to know how he could help him but didn't want to risk a direct confrontation again, that hadn't gone well last time. What Fletcher dug up wasn't much. Regulus was a lawyer, a senior associate at the law firm of Crouch & Bagnold, apparently he'd only recently been promoted. He lived alone in the apartment James had found him in, drove a nice Cadillac, and had recently been spending a lot of time on the weekends with a friend named Barty Crouch Jr, the son of one of Regulus' bosses. Fletcher thought they might be dating, but he wasn't sure.

He didn't appear to have any other friends he spent any time with. He ran all his errands, grocery shopping, dry cleaning, etc., on Sunday, like clockwork. Otherwise, he went to work and then went home. Except....also recently, he'd begun to play basketball with a group of people in the local park.

The only other things Fletcher could tell him was that Regulus wasn't particularly active on social media, that he had subscriptions to a number of online gaming accounts, leading to the belief that he was probably a hardcore gamer, and that except at work, he went by "Reggie," and never Regulus. Despite living in the same city as his parents, he hadn't gone to see them or made any attempt to contact them in the time that Fletcher had been following him, which tracked with what Regu...Reggie had told him. That was going to take getting used to.

His life seemed sanitized, very insular and self contained. He could imagine Regulus being content like that, since he could control his environment, a common trait among people who'd experienced trauma and felt like they needed to establish control over their own lives (James had taken several psychology courses in college, he'd had a pressing interest to try and figure Sirius out.) But he didn't imagine Regulus was very happy. But that left James in a quandary: how could he possibly help the guy out? He and Sirius were alike in a lot of ways, so James knew that Regulus would refuse help if James offered it to him directly. And how could he help him anyway? It wasn't like he was living in a homeless shelter, he had his life together. 

Discouraged, he'd sent Fletcher home, and figured he could do nothing but brood on the subject a while longer yet. Perhaps when the season started again, and they took a road trip to his hometown again, he could try and see Regulus, the fact that this was his best idea didn't bode well.

And then, he'd seen the video. One of the things Fletcher sent him was video of Regulus playing basketball, apparently shot by one of the group he played with and uploaded online. Regulus' hair was tied back in a ponytail, and he was dressed in what looked like new gym clothes. He...looked good, actually.

But what James noticed was that Regulus also looked good on the court. Like, REALLY good. He smoothly navigated his way through the opposing players like they weren't even there, and his three point shot, always the best on the team, was deadly. He looked almost better than he did in high school, he could put half the players currently in the pros out of a job!

"What a waste," James said, shaking his head and closing out the video. The basketball world had been robbed. Then his eyes snapped open. 

"Wait a damn minute!" 

He had an idea. It took a few calls, but finally he'd gotten the number he needed.

"Albus Dumbledore speaking."

"Hey Coach! It's James Potter."

"James, my boy! How are you?"

"Just fine, thanks. Still working on that jump shot."

James' old college coach chuckled. "As if you need any more tips from me, Mr. Potter."

"Well, like you said, you're never too old to learn. I was calling to congratulate you on your new job."

Two weeks ago, Albus Dumbledore had gotten his first pro league coaching job after years of college experience. 

"Thank you, my boy! Dare I ask for you to take it easy on us when you come to visit?"

James laughed. "I wish I could, but Moody might actually kill me."

"Alastor is rather formidable," Dumbledore agreed sagely. 

"I'm also calling because I need a favor. I call it a favor, but it might actually work out for you too."

"Oh? I'm intrigued."

"I have this friend, you see, this old high school teammate of mine....."


	7. Chapter 7

The man had been watching them since they'd gotten here. Something seemed...off about him, which was weird, because he didn't LOOK like a creep, just the opposite: a dignified looking older gentleman, bearded, sharply dressed, sitting at a park bench eating a picnic lunch. But Regulus could tell, the entire time he and his new friends were playing, that the man was watching them. 

"Anybody know that guy?" Regulus asked the group during a water break.

Everyone shook their heads.

"He's been staring at us this whole time," Regulus continued, dousing the top of his head in water.

"Maybe he thinks you're cute, Reggie," Bill Weasley joked. Everyone laughed as Regulus rolled his eyes.

"Obviously he's here to hit on your brother, Billy," he quipped, causing Charlie to go pale in the face and the rest to laugh harder.

"That isn't funny guys," Charlie said unhappily.

Still, the joke had bothered Regulus. Because what if it was true? What if this dude thought he was attractive and wanted sex from him? Some kind of sugar daddy thing? It gave Regulus the willies. He couldn't stomach the thought of sleeping with an older man, it reminded him too much of....past events. 

Regulus tried to put the man out of his mind as they resumed playing, and it didn't affect his concentration any, as his team won the game.

"It isn't fair how good you are," Charlie Weasley complained as they finished.

"You say that every time," Bill commented drily.

"Maybe I should try next time with my eyes closed?" Regulus joked. 

"Seriously, how did you get this good?"

Regulus shrugged. "I always liked basketball growing up. I played on my high school team."

"Who'd you play with? James Potter?"

Regulus laughed perhaps a little TOO loudly at that "joke."

"Don't look now, guys, but Reggie's new friend is walking over here," Bill said in an undertone.

Regulus looked up. Sure enough, the bearded man was making his way over to the court, straight towards them. Oh, FUCK.

"What should we do?" Regulus asked.

"Tell him how much you charge per hour, Reggie," Charlie quipped, earning himself a smack upside the head.

"Wait," Bill said, his eyes narrowing, "That guy looks JUST like Albus Dumbledore."

The name was familiar to Regulus, but he couldn't place where from.

Charlie looked up, and gaped at the man. "Holy shit, it IS Dumbledore! Coach Dumbledore!" He called out, waving a hand. 

"Hello boys!" the man replied. Oh, THAT Dumbledore. As in Coach Albus Dumbledore, the new head coach of the team in town, as in James Potter's coach in college. Regulus really HATED how he knew that.

The rest of the group crowded around the coach, shaking his hand and acting all excited. 

"I don't mean to bother you gentlemen, I was hoping I might borrow Mr. Black for a minute?" Dumbledore asked, nodding in Regulus' direction.

"What? Me?" Regulus asked, pointing to himself like an idiot. Dumbledore smiled and nodded, gesturing for him to walk over to a nearby tree. Being polite was so ingrained in Regulus' nature that he went along, despite his internal dialogue consisting of just incoherent screaming. He KNEW it! This guy was some kind of stalky chickenhawk who knew his name somehow and apparently had a thing for amateur basketball players. 

"Mr. Black," Dumbledore said when they were next to the tree, out of earshot of the other players, "I was given a video taken of you playing with your friends and I wanted to come out here and see if you played that well all the time."

It took Regulus a second to process what the man was saying. "I'm sorry...what?"

Dumbledore chuckled. "Call it a scouting mission, Reggie. May I call you Reggie?"

"Uhh...sure. I'm sorry, scouting mission?"

"I need players, Reggie. To put it frankly, the team I've inherited doesn't inspire confidence. With no budget for free agents, and with a whole year until draft time, I find myself resorting to...unconventional means to try and put a team on the court this season."

"I'm not following, sir."

"Please, call me Albus. Let me be plainer then: you have talent, Reggie. I want to give you a try-out with my team."

Regulus stared at the older man. "A try-out? With your professional basketball team?"

"Correct."

"I don't understand. I'm a lawyer, Coach. I'm out here goofing off, that's all. I'm not in playing shape, there's no way I could hang with the pros."

"If that," Dumbledore gestured to the court he'd been playing on, "is you playing out of shape, then I shudder to think how good you'd be once you got INTO shape."

"You keep saying I've got all this talent when I didn't even play in college," Regulus said, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

"I know about your injury, Mr. Black," Dumbledore said gently, "in my opinion, you got a raw deal. Had you been brought to my attention back then, I would have offered you a scholarship on the team I coached. I saw video of you back in high school."

"How would you have...." Oh. Regulus understood now. "You had it because you recruited James Potter."

"Correct. And upon a closer inspection, I concluded that Mr. Potter, as good as he is, wouldn't have scored nearly as many points as he did on the St. Mary's team if he didn't have you feeding him the ball in the paint."

Okay, if there was one thing Regulus didn't want to talk about right now, it was how he figured into the career development of James Potter.

"Sir...Albus," Regulus said slowly, "I reconciled myself with the loss of my basketball dreams a long time ago. I have a stable life here now, one I built myself, and I don't think I....I don't think I could handle something like this being dangled in front of me, and then I make a fool out of myself and it's gone again. I'm afraid that I'd lose it."

Dumbledore put his hand on Regulus' shoulder. "It's just a try-out, Reggie. You're not signing your life away, it's just an afternoon of playing basketball, just like you are here. I understand you're afraid, but ask yourself this: could you live the rest of your life happy, without ever knowing for sure if you had what it took to play with the big boys? To have your name up in lights? You owe it to yourself to at least give yourself a chance, don't you?"

Regulus sighed. He had to admit, it WAS a good recruitment pitch. But then again, this guy was a seasoned expert at it. 

"Can I...I'd like to think about it, Coach."

"Sure, I get that. Why don't you take my card here, take a couple days to think it over, and call me when you've made a decision?"

Regulus looked at the card before taking it with an internal sigh.

"It was nice meeting you, Mr. Black," Dumbledore said, shaking his hand. "Think about what I said, will you?"

Regulus nodded, standing there staring after him as Dumbledore walked away. Then he scoffed as he watched Bill and Charlie run up to the coach.

"Excuse me, Coach Dumbledore? I hate to bother you, but could we get a picture? My little brothers are absolutely going to freak out."

"Of course, young gentlemen! What are their names? We can do a video greeting."

Regulus smiled as he turned away. So, not a creep at all then.

******

Jesus Christ, what even WAS his life lately? It was like everything that had happened to him since Mr. Crouch had asked him to come to his office that fateful day was some kind of convoluted fever dream, or a shitty novel written by a pudgy gay man in his late twenties who was writing to cope with the fact that he was out of work and stuck at home all the time. Huh, that was oddly specific.

Regulus was sitting on his couch at home, only half paying attention to the movie on the TV. It was times like these that he was sad he didn't have anyone to confide in, to ask advice. He supposed he could ask Barty, but he KNEW what Barty was going to tell him. Barty would threaten to come over there and slap him if he didn't do it. But Barty didn't know all the complications of Regulus' past. 

He didn't think he should do this. Things were good right now, right? He was content right now, happy was a stretch, but it was overrated anyway. Why add more complications to his life? Set him up for failure? Disappointment of this magnitude might lead to him finally snapping and either drinking himself to death or else just jumping off a bridge. 

But still, something Dumbledore had said stuck with him. He'd never gotten a chance to try back when he was a teenager. That was all he'd wanted, a chance to show what he could do, and no one was interested then. But someone was now. If he didn't take the chance now, it would probably irritate him for the rest of his life.

There was a knock at the door, and Regulus got up to answer it. He opened it without looking first, figuring it was the pizza he'd ordered. So he was caught completely off guard when he came face to face with the last person on Earth he'd ever thought he'd see again.

"Sirius?" he asked, in disbelief.

His brother was a mess, his clothes were hanging limply off his body, like he'd lost a lot of weight recently. His hair was hanging unkempt around his face, and he seemed off balance. Then Regulus spotted the bottle in his hand. Caribbean rum, of course. Very Sirius.

"Well, look at you," Sirius said, slightly slurring his words. "Little bitty Regulus, living on your own like a...a big boy. Seems you're well adjusted, aren't you?"

"You're drunk, Sirius," Regulus said derisively, "What the hell do you want?"

"I want you..." Sirius said, jabbing him in the chest with his pointer finger, "to stay away from my friends. Like I told you to."

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about," Regulus said flatly.

"Don't lie!" Sirius yelled, pushing Regulus and advancing into the apartment after him. "James...James told me what you said to him. The sob story you laid on him."

"Hey, James came to me," Regulus replied, "And everything I told him was the truth. Just because you're too much of a self centered asshole to see it doesn't make it a lie."

"You and your slick lawyer tongue, you sound just like him, you know that?"

"Get the fuck out of here, Sirius!"

"You always wanted to steal my friends, I knew that when we were kids. Too chickenshit to get your own so you had to have mine!"

"I didn't want to steal your friends, I wanted to spend time with YOU, my brother, since you were never at home."

"Well, I...I didn't want to spend time with you! You're just like them, you always were!"

"Just like them, huh?" Regulus said in a low, dangerous voice. "And who told you that? Daddy Dearest, perhaps? And you believed him, because it reinforced what you already believed: the tortured martyr, completely unique, understood by NO man, right? Not just one member of an abusive household, right?"

"He never hit you!" Sirius insisted.

"No, he didn't hit me," Regulus agreed. "But I'd rather he hit me than what he did do to me."

Sirius punched him in the face, Regulus staying on his feet, but only barely.

"Rather get hit, Regulus? Did you like that? I can give you more, you know!"

Regulus snapped. He seized the front of Sirius' shirt and shoved him, hard. Sirius tripped over the coffee table and fell backwards on it, breaking it into pieces. Regulus advanced on his prone form, kicking him in the side. Sirius grabbed his foot and tripped him up, and Regulus fell onto the couch. Before he could get up, Sirius was on him, punching him a few more times. Regulus threw an elbow that caught Sirius in the solar plexus. But Sirius wrapped his hands around his brother's throat and started choking him. Regulus looked up into his eyes, and he saw there the same look, the same sadistic manic look that he saw every time his father was on top of him hurting him. 

"Yeah, go ahead Sirius," Regulus wheezed out, "Finish me off! Do what Dad never could!" 

Sirius was caught off guard by this, and lessened his hold on Regulus. But his brother wasn't done yet.

"Daddy would be proud of you right now, Siri," Regulus spat out. 

Sirius looked like he'd been shot. His hands dropped off of Regulus instantly, and he just stared with wide eyes at him, mouth opening and closing with no sound coming out. 

"I...I..." But it seemed Sirius had nothing to say after all, he got up and fled from the apartment, leaving Regulus lying there, breathing hard. He could taste blood in his mouth and felt it dripping down his chin, his lip was split open. 

"Motherfucker," he panted, over and over again, as he got to his feet, "Mother fucking mother fucker!"

He spotted the rum bottle, lying on the floor, miraculously unbroken. Regulus screamed out in cold fury, seizing the bottle and hurling it out of his apartment, where it smashed against the wall of the hallway. Then he slammed the door shut.

Who did this fucker think he was? "Stay away from my friends," well he HAD. Should have told James to stay away from me, shouldn't he? And for him to come here after all this time and do this?

No, that wasn't gonna work. He'd tried minding his own business, confining himself to his own life, but that wasn't good enough anymore. Fine then. He was done. He was going to call Dumbledore and do whatever he had to in order to get on that team. And he was going to rub their fucking noses in it! Sirius, James, his parents, he'd make them all have to look at him, every single goddamned night, as he played. Even if that didn't pan out, he was still going to make them pay, all of them, he was DONE being their punching bag.

And spite could be one of the most powerful motivators on Earth if you were sufficiently pissed off enough.


	8. Chapter 8

The next time James heard about Regulus Black was from an ESPN article sent to him by Frank Longbottom along with a text that says "Can you believe this? I knew Dumbledore was nuts, but really?"

Dumbledore had actually signed a pro contract with Reggie. The press was having a field day with it, even more so because they knew nothing about this mysterious "Reggie Black," which he'd sure would change soon. Once they made the connection between Reggie and "Regulus Black, Esquire" it would only get worse. 

He sent a text to Dumbledore: "He did that good, huh?"

The reply came a minute later: a smiley face emoji.

James chuckled. Then he got another message: "Thanks for the help, Mr. Potter."

"No problem. Just make sure you don't tell him it was me that pointed you his way."

"I have no idea why, but I'll keep your secret James."

James didn't reply. He knew that if Regulus ever found out that James reached out to Dumbledore about him, that he would think that the coach had only signed him as a favor to his old college player. The younger man had serious self esteem issues. James sighed, he'd done all he could for him now, the rest had to be up to him. As for James, he turned his attention back to the task at hand: finding a new agent.

******

Regulus walked into Crouch's office for their appointment the day after the most surreal moment of his entire life had taken place. On paper at least, he was now a professional basketball player. Jesus Christ. All he had to do now was quit his job. Hence why, a few months after going into Crouch's office convinced he was about to be fired, he was going in there to resign.

"So, Mr. Black, my son tells me that you have quite the new job lined up," Crouch said after they'd exchanged pleasantries. 

Regulus wanted to roll his eyes. Barty was apparently not great at keeping secrets.

"I apologize, sir, I didn't go looking for this, it just came out of nowhere."

Crouch held up his hand. "I understand, Regulus. Even I, a sports novice, recognize the opportunity you've been offered here. I'd never hold that against you."

"I'm just going to be a bench player," Regulus said, shrugging. "I don't even know how long it's going to last."

Crouch looked at him from across the desk, appraisingly.

"You've been very kind to my son, Regulus. So I'll tell you what: if your new career doesn't work out for you, you can always come back here. I'll give you your job back whenever you ask for it."

Regulus was touched. "I appreciate that sir."

"Can I ask you a personal question, Regulus?"

Regulus had a feeling he knew what it was. "Sure."

"Are you and my son dating?"

Yep. There it was.

"No, Mr. Crouch. We're just friends."

"Would you....like to be?"

Regulus tried not to blush at the bluntness of the question. "I asked him, a couple weeks ago. He likes things the way they are."

"Ah, I understand."

"If I might offer some advice about him, sir?"

"Yes, go ahead."

"I know you want him to marry well. But I think he's starting to resent all the lawyer friends you've been setting him up with. Just give him time, Mr. Crouch. He'll find someone. And it won't be a slob, his standards are too high for that."

Mr. Crouch looked at him and sighed. "Yes, I suppose you're right. Thank you, for your honesty."

Regulus walked out of Crouch's office, heading to his desk to grab his things. He found Lily Evans there.

"What's going on, Reggie? What's with the appointment with the boss?"

"I'm leaving, Lily. I've got a new job lined up."

"You're leaving me here alone with all these straight men? That's not fair, Reggie!" Lily pouted. "Who am I supposed to talk to in here that won't try and flirt with me?"

"Mafalda Hopkirk?" Regulus suggested. Lily made a face.

"I think I'd rather the gross pick-up lines. So what's this new job anyway?"

"I can't say, at least not right now. But here. A going away present."

He handed her an envelope.

"Basketball tickets?"

"Yep, for the first home game of the season next month. You should come."

Regulus had been given complimentary tickets to give to his family. But he didn't have any family he wanted to give them to, so far the only people he'd thought of had been Barty and Lily. It was pathetic, really: the greatest thing ever, and he had almost no one to share it with.

"I thought you didn't like basketball," Lily said, looking at him strangely.

"Well, I've had a change of heart. But seriously, you should come," he replied, placing emphasis on the last part of the sentence.

"Alright, I will. You're being very cryptic today."

Regulus just shrugged and laughed. "Still friends?"

Lily hugged him. "Of course we're still friends, you dork."

******

Barty was waiting for him outside his apartment door.

"Hurry up and get in here, you bastard," Barty said, bouncing from foot to foot.

"Your dad call you?"

"Oh yeah. This is the most we've talked in years, Reggie. Guess I should thank you for that."

Regulus chuckled and unlocked his door, letting them both into the apartment. As soon as the door was closed, Barty shoved him lightly.

"What the fuck, Reggie? You pull something like this and don't tell me until it's over?"

Regulus shrugged. "It came out of nowhere, man. I'm playing basketball in the park with the boys and Albus Dumbledore just walked up to me and asked me to try out for the team."

"No shit? Then what happened?"

"Just like I told you. Yesterday I went to a try-out, played some ball, and Dumbledore gave me a contract to sign."

"Yeah, I got THAT part from the media, Reggie."

Regulus paused. "....the media?"

Barty showed him an article on his phone.

"....Fuck."

"You didn't really think the press wasn't going to get wind of this, did you?"

"Well yeah, in the abstract. But seeing my name out there like that.....Plus I thought I had more time, you know?"

Barty laughed. "This is so cool! I'm friends with a basketball star!"

"Star is a bit of a stretch....Like I told your dad, I'm just a bench player. I wouldn't get my hopes up."

"You're a bench player NOW, once they see how good you are, you'll be a star for sure."

"Yeah, okay," Regulus rolled his eyes and walked into the kitchen, with Barty following.

"Your dad asked if we were dating," Regulus said as he dug around in the fridge. He heard Barty scoff.

"What'd you say?"

"That we were friends. And I suggested that maybe he shouldn't set you up with anymore of his lawyer friends."

"God, it'd be great if he actually listens to you. Lawyers are SO boring."

"Hey!"

"You don't count, you're not a lawyer anymore."

"Technically I still am, just not actively working as one."

"Well, whatever. Still, maybe we should pretend to date, just to get him to leave me alone...."

Regulus stood up, turned around, and pointed at Barty. "Not nice, dude."

"Yeah I know, I know. I wouldn't do that. Still...."

Barty pressed Regulus up against the fridge.

"Just because we're not dating doesn't mean we can't....play around some to celebrate."

Regulus swallowed. "What did you have in mind?"

Barty smirked. In a low voice, he said "Do you have any idea how hot the idea of fucking a pro basketball player is to me?"

"I'm only a basketball player on paper, you know. It doesn't count till I've appeared in a game."

Barty shrugged. "Just gives me an excuse to come back again, doesn't it?"

Then he sweetened the pot, whispering in Regulus' ear: "I'll even top you, if you want."

That sent a shiver down Regulus' spine. He smiled and nodded.

"Yeah?" Barty said. When Regulus nodded again, Barty smiled before grabbing Regulus by the lapels to drag him to the bedroom.

"Didn't you have a coffee table here last time I was here?" Barty asked as they made their way through the living room.

"Yeah, it broke. Accident."

There was no need to ruin the moment with thoughts of his shithead brother, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I found this sitting in a folder, and figured, rather than working on anything that I ALREADY have posted on here, I'd clean this up, add a chapter, and put it up here too, to be updated when I feel like it along with the others, because I am the embodiment of CHAOS.


End file.
